Showing papers in "Physics Today in 1949"
TL;DR: Sylvania Electric Products, Inc. as discussed by the authors recently sponsored a symposium on the physics of powder metallurgy at Fort Totten in Bayside, Long Island.
Abstract: We may in time find industry performing a function hitherto associated entirely with scientific societies and universities, if it follows the lead of the Sylvania Electric Products, Inc. which recently sponsored a symposium on the physics of powder metallurgy at Fort Totten in Bayside, Long Island. Walter E. Kingston, manager of Sylvania's Metallurgical Research Laboratories, was the moving spirit of the meeting, which was organized and financially supported by his company independently of any technical society. Kingston assembled a program of twenty‐two papers and approximately one hundred and fifty physicists and metallurgists attended.
715 citations
548 citations
73 citations
TL;DR: The birefringent filter, invented in 1933 by Bernard Lyot and independently in 1938 by Yngve Ohman, has been widely used in observing solar limb emission line phenomena which are ordinarily invisible because of the background of atmospheric and instrumental scattered light as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The birefringent filter, invented in 1933 by Bernard Lyot, and independently in 1938 by Yngve Ohman, has been widely used in observing solar limb emission line phenomena which are ordinarily invisible because of the background of atmospheric and instrumental scattered light.
48 citations
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TL;DR: Gibbs is the type of the imagination at work in the world as mentioned in this paper, and his story is that of an opening-up which has had its effect on our lives and our thinking; and, it seems to me, it is the emblem of the naked imagination, which is called abstract and impractical, but whose discoveries can be used by anyone who is interested, in whatever "field"
Abstract: Willard Gibbs is the type of the imagination at work in the world. His story is that of an opening‐up which has had its effect on our lives and our thinking; and, it seems to me, it is the emblem of the naked imagination—which is called abstract and impractical, but whose discoveries can be used by anyone who is interested, in whatever “field”—an imagination which for me, more than that of any other figure in American thought, any poet, or political, or religious figure, stands for imagination at its essential points.
23 citations
13 citations
TL;DR: In the past years an increasing number of physicists have turned to the investigation of cosmic rays and one reason for this (not often mentioned officially) is that cosmic ray work can be as adventurous as big game hunting as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In the past years an increasing number of physicists have turned to the investigation of cosmic rays. One reason for this (not often mentioned officially) is that cosmic ray work can be as adventurous as big game hunting. Cosmic radiation is influenced by the magnetic field of the earth and it is different near the equator, in the temperate zones, and near the polar regions. Thus good reasons can be found for a cosmic ray expedition to any part of the globe.
12 citations
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TL;DR: The human mechanism of the human mechanism is currently under intense study by mathematicians and physicists, as well as by researchers in the life sciences as discussed by the authors, and it has been studied extensively in the literature.
Abstract: Ever since Einstein took his observers along on moving coordinate axes and left some behind to tell the tale of what happened within the stationary frame of reference, physics has changed in more than one respect. Physical science in general has begun to include research on these persistent observers and performers of experiments themselves. The workings of the human mechanism are currently under intense study by mathematicians and physicists, as well as by researchers in the life sciences.
11 citations
TL;DR: The Seventh Pacific Science Congress as discussed by the authors was held in New Zealand during February 1949 was the first after the war and was mainly intended to unite scientists in fields with special interest in the Pacific Ocean, but pure physics is not represented, but there are divisions of geophysics, geology, meteorology, and oceanography, in addition to other sections such as botany, zoology, public health, anthropology, and social science.
Abstract: The Seventh Pacific Science Congress which was held in New Zealand during February 1949 was the first after the war. The Congresses are mainly intended to unite scientists in fields with special interest in the Pacific Ocean. Thus, pure physics is not represented, but there are divisions of geophysics, geology, meteorology, and oceanography, in addition to other sections such as botany, zoology, public health, anthropology, and social science.
10 citations
TL;DR: Gentlemen and Fellow Physicists of America as discussed by the authors meet to-day on an occasion which marks an epoch in the history of physics in America; may the future show that it also marks a epoch in history of the science which this society is organized to cultivate.
Abstract: Gentlemen and Fellow Physicists of America:We meet to‐day on an occasion which marks an epoch in the history of physics in America; may the future show that it also marks an epoch in the history of the science which this society is organized to cultivate! For we meet here in the interest of a science above all sciences, which deals with the foundation of the Universe, with the constitution of matter from which everything in the Universe is made, and with the ether of space by which alone the various portions of matter forming the Universe affect each other even at such distances as we may never expect to traverse whatever the progress of our science in the future.
9 citations
TL;DR: In America, the battle for the inclusion of science in the curriculum was easily won as mentioned in this paper, and just as pragmatism has been the dominating philosophy taught in the universities, so in pedagogy has everything been subordinated to immediate and practical ends.
Abstract: Many writers have noted that pragmatism is the chief trait of the American character, whether this is to be attributed to the cast of mind common in emigrants to the New World, or to the conditions of life that they found and developed there. And just as pragmatism has been the dominating philosophy taught in the universities, so in pedagogy has everything been subordinated to immediate and practical ends. In America, the battle for the inclusion of science in the curriculum was easily won. Money for laboratories has been generously provided—it has always been more readily available for buildings than for the men who teach in them—and the visible successes of modern science have given it enormous prestige as an academic subject. So greatly envied is the position of the scientist in the universities that his colleagues in other departments are tempted to describe their own subjects as sciences and themselves as scientists. Thus a historian who emigrates to America may find that he has become a social scien...
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TL;DR: In this article, a period of over a year a number of experiments have been carried out, partly on the ground and partly aboard a B-29 aircraft. But none of the experiments were carried out in the air.
Abstract: During a period of over a year a number of experiments have been carried out, partly on the ground and partly aboard a B‐29 aircraft.
TL;DR: If cosmic rays are assumed to fill interstellar space, the total energy involved (being, in fact, comparable with that of starlight) is too great to be readily explainable as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: If cosmic rays are assumed to fill interstellar space, the total energy involved (being, in fact, comparable with that of starlight) is too great to be readily explainable.
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TL;DR: In this article, the development of physics in the years to come always present us with ever broadening horizons offering limitless possibilities for further explorations, or is our science converging towards a complete and self-consistent system of fundamental physical knowledge with all the ground thoroughly explored and with no new striking discoveries to be expected?
Abstract: Will the development of physics in the years to come always present us with ever broadening horizons offering limitless possibilities for further explorations, or is our science converging towards a complete and self‐consistent system of fundamental physical knowledge with all the ground thoroughly explored and with no new striking discoveries to be expected?.
TL;DR: In the last ten years, physicists and astronomers from all over the world have been trying to account for the observed relative abundances of the chemical elements as discussed by the authors, and they have been able to identify the most abundant elements.
Abstract: In the last ten years, physicists and astronomers from all over the world have been trying to account for the observed relative abundances of the chemical elements.
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TL;DR: Relative intensities of various types of cosmic ray particles at different atmospheric levels give clues to the collision processes and nuclear interactions which cause them as discussed by the authors, and the collision process and nuclear interaction which causes them.
Abstract: Relative intensities of various types of cosmic ray particles at different atmospheric levels give clue to the collision processes and nuclear interactions which cause them.
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TL;DR: In this paper, it was shown that associated with sun spot activity there occur bursts of radiation whose intensity occasionally exceeds the normal radiation by a factor of several million, and that these bursts are associated with solar radiation bursts.
Abstract: Recent studies of solar radiation within the radio spectrum indicate that associated with sun spot activity there occur bursts of radiation whose intensity occasionally exceeds the normal radiation by a factor of several million.
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TL;DR: The discomforts of noise in working and living can be reduced only by a rational approach to acoustics problems when building houses and factories, writes the technical director of the Acoustics Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The discomforts of noise in working and living can be reduced only by a rational approach to acoustics problems when building houses and factories, writes the technical director of the Acoustics Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
TL;DR: The International Conference on the Physics of Very Low Temperatures (ICPVTH) was held at MIT from September 6-10, 1949 as discussed by the authors, which was the first conference organized under the auspices of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPA).
Abstract: About two hundred physicists, of whom twenty‐five or so had traveled from Europe, attended the International Conference on the Physics of Very Low Temperatures held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on September 6–10, 1949. Similar meetings had been organized before the last war but only as supplements to the meetings of the International Institute of Refrigeration which were concerned with industrial questions. The transfer to the auspices of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics marks the coming of age of low temperature research as a major branch of physics.
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TL;DR: The mesotron as normally found in nature has an energy of about one billion electron volts and a half life for disintegration of a few microseconds as mentioned in this paper, which is the energy of a single electron.
Abstract: The mesotron as normally found in nature has an energy of about one billion electron volts and a half life for disintegration of a few microseconds.
TL;DR: The presence of minute amounts of certain salts such as magnesium sulfate in water may produce large increases in the absorption of sound as discussed by the authors, which may be explained by the fact that they are less absorbable than other salts.
Abstract: The presence of minute amounts of certain salts such as magnesium sulfate in water may produce large increases in the absorption of sound.
TL;DR: In this article, it is defined as the current beneath the surface which sets seaward when waves are breaking on the shore, which is the usual explanation for the drowning of thousands of people each summer.
Abstract: Surf bathing leads to the drowning of thousands of people each summer. “Caught in the undertow” is the usual explanation for these disasters and yet there may be no such thing as undertow. In dictionaries it is defined as “the current beneath the surface which sets seaward when waves are breaking on the shore.” Many geological textbooks contain brief discussions of undertow, ascribing it to the seaward return of landward driven surface water.
TL;DR: In this paper, it was shown that a charged particle in a constant magnetic field moves in a circle whose plane is perpendicular to the magnetic field, and that the radius of the circle is constant.
Abstract: Classically a charged particle in a constant magnetic field moves in a circle whose plane is perpendicular to the magnetic field.